Members of the Detroit board of education said they need more information before deciding on a request that it place a question on the ballot in November giving Detroit residents a say in the use of tax money to finance the Little Caesars Arena and Detroit Pistons' move downtown.

The board asked its legal counsel to provide more research on the issue, and its finance committee will look into the financial impact of the project.

The board, which oversees the Detroit Public Schools Community District, had been asked to place the question on the ballot by activist Robert Davis and City Clerk candidate D. Etta Wilcoxon, who argue the project shouldn't be funded with public money without Detroit residents voting on it.

Three members of the Detroit board -- LaMar Lemmons, his wife, Georgia Lemmons and Deborah Hunter-Harvill -- asked earlier this week that tonight's meeting be scheduled to consider the request.

But after discussion tonight, board members said they need more information. They asked their attorney, Phyllis Hurks-Hill, to provide more research on some key issues, including whether the board has the authority to put the question on the ballot.

"We're limited in the type of issues we can put on the ballot," Hurks-Hill said her initial research found.

Davis, though, said she is wrong and he tried multiple times to interrupt the meeting to counter the opinion she was giving board members. During the public comment period of the meeting, Davis said Michigan's Revised School Code, the state law that governs public schools, "lays out the legal authority," for the board to take such action.

"We understand the politics that are involved in this issue," Davis said. He said Mayor Mike Duggan and some members of the board don't want to see the board place the question on the ballot.

"The citizens of this city deserve honest, clear answers to these questions," Davis said.

Lemmons said he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

"It's the beginning of the process. We're going to vet the impact and the finances. We're going to have legal look at our standing," Lemmons said.

But he has a backup plan if the board eventually opts not to place the question on the ballot.

"Personally, I'm going to organize a group of citizens as a back up, should my colleagues disappoint me," Lemmons said.

"We can put it on the ballot through a citizen's initiative. So, i'm going to find out how many signatures we need. There's more than one way to skin a cat."

Lemmons raised concerns about the tax captures to help fund the arena project at a special meeting of the Detroit board Monday. He said then that the board received no notice from the city about the fiscal impact of the tax captures on the district.

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Olympia Entertainment president and CEO Tom Wilson gave a tour of the arena scheduled to open in September on Monday, June 12.
Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press

It's unclear what kind of notice the district and board received in 2013, when the project was first before the city council. But Hurks Hill said at tonight's meeting that the district received notification about the Pistons move on May 16. It was news to board members.

"So, the notice went to our staff and our staff did not notify this body? Is that what I'm to understand," Lemons asked.

"I never received a notice," said Iris Taylor, the board president. "I would have brought it before the board."

The Downtown Development Authority, the public entity that owns the arena, is expected to collect $726 million in school property tax revenue through 2051 as part of its tax increment financing. The money will be used to pay off $363 million in bonds for public investments in the arena and the surrounding development district.

Davis and his attorney, Andrew Paterson, have argued voters should have a say, citing a provision in state law that says any money raised from taxes cannot be used for a purpose "other than that for which it was raised without the consent of a majority of the school electors of the district voting on the question at a regular or special school election."

Today's debate came just days after the Detroit City Council approved $34.5 million in public funding for the arena that's under construction at Woodward and I-75. Council members Brenda Jones and Raquel Castaneda-Lopez voted against the measure.

On Monday, a day before the council's approval, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith denied a request for an emergency injunction that would have kept Detroit's DDA from using public money for the arena until the lawsuit is heard.

The DPSCD is a new entity that was created in June 2016 as part of a plan to resolve the massive debt that had crippled Detroit Public Schools, which has spent much of the last 20 years under state control.

The DPSCD was created to educate students. Its operation is being funded from the State School Aid Fund.

Meanwhile, the legislation kept DPS intact to collect millage revenue to pay off its debt. A report from the city's legislative policy division, provided to the Free Press Wednesday, said it's anticipated that the operating debt of DPS will be paid off within 10 years, while the capital debt will be paid off within 30 years.

The amount of revenue DPS will have to pay off the debt will be affected by the arena project, the report said.

If DPS was able to collect taxes from the property that is part of the arena project, "the old DPS debt would be paid off quicker," David Whitaker, the director of the legislative division, said in the report, which was completed after a request from Councilwoman Mary Sheffield.

"I'm praying that you all will do the right thing," said Detroit resident Glenda McGadney. "I don't want my tax money to be continually used for a stadium where they're not hiring enough Detroiters."

"This is wrong and I hope that you do the right thing and fight this, through the election process or a lawsuit in some way," said Kathy Montgomery, a city resident.

Activist Helen Moore was disappointed that the board didn't take action at tonight's meeting, saying the board needs to vote "today and you need to vote for our children."